Dateline’s back catalogue is full of songs that pack a one-two punch of crunched guitars and power pop sensibilities.
This is the first time since relocating from Hastings to Wellington last year Dateline has released a new song.
This is also the first single the band has released since their critically acclaimed 2022 debut album Dumb For My Age.
Choose Me tells a story of desperation, over distorted guitars, driving rhythms, and lush four-part vocal harmonies.
When asked about the lyrical themes, Everingham said “Choose Me was written from the perspective of a younger Katie, It’s just a bit of a reflection of an experience I was having when I was in my mid 20s.
“I now look at the track as a kind of capsule of my younger self.”
The track was born out of a 2022 demo session with The Beth’s Liz Stokes and Jonathan Pearce, along with Phoebe Rings’ bassist Ben Locke and multi instrumentalist Sean Martin-Buss.
Everingham explained the partnership evolved from when she was sending Pearce some “offensively lo-fi” acoustic demos from Hastings
After Everingham moved to Wellington, Pearce organised a last-minute band to play and record Dateline’s song.
Everingham said: “If I remember correctly, I played drums, Jon was on rhythm guitar, Liz added percussion, Ben Locke played the bass and Sean Martin-Buss played lead guitar.”
“Sean had barely heard the songs but just turned up and started playing along and noodling and we happened to record the solo that you hear after the first chorus.”
When putting together Dateline’s new band, the Hastings born musician wanted to keep it as close as possible to Martin-Buss’ version as she “really loved” the way he played the song.
